🔗 Share this article

Members of the jury overseeing a widely publicized Queensland murder trial have traveled to the isolated beach where the young woman was located.

Toyah Cordingley was multiple times stabbed with a bladed weapon and buried in a shallow resting place with minimal chance of survival, the jury has heard.

The remains were found by a family member the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.

The accused, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.

Jury Visit to Beach

The panel of 10 men and two women plus three back-up jurors attended the location along with the judge and legal counsel on Monday morning in Queensland.

In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, the judge wore a T-shirt, sport shorts and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.

Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys chose polo shirts, shorts and headwear.

Location Details

The court members were guided around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.

Earlier, as they traveled to the site, four markers showed where the victim's car had been parked.

The trip was intended to help the jurors become acquainted with key locations in the trial and no official evidence was presented.

Background of the Case

Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his spouse, family and relatives.

He was not heard from until he was arrested four years later, the state said.

State Case

It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.

The victim was found wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions missing.

Those items were removed by the assailant to conceal evidence, prosecutors contend.

Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was located secured to a tree hidden in shrubland about 100 feet from the burial site.

No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.

But the state says the evidence – though indirect – was made up of findings that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."

This will include testimony that genetic material recovered from a stick at the location was extremely more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.

The jury has already heard testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the scene after the incident – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the accused.

Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also suggested his involvement, the prosecution has argued.

Defense Stance

"While authorities were finding Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a rushed one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he began arguments.

The defence is yet to provided testimony, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire portrayed his defendant as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."

He also foreshadowed evidence to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had witnessed two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – something he said was his "gravest error."

Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.

Further Evidence

Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom police excluded as a possible suspect, was among those who gave evidence last week.

The court heard he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's vanishing, even before her remains were found.

Photographs depicting the witness on a hike with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the jury, with an expert saying he was confident the pictures were genuine and had not been altered in any manner.

The case will return to the standard environment of the courthouse on Tuesday.